Thursday, July 23, 2020

Bake when in quarantine

I take this COVID 19 pandemic seriously.  And one simple way to prevent me and my mom from getting it is to self quarantine in our home.  I only go out to work and the essential errands like grocery.  Since I am home a lot, I keep myself busy by tending to my yard and learning to bake.  I recently discovered how to make Leche flan from youtube and it was a success.  I dare say my flan is tasty.  The problem with making flan is it only needs egg yolk in the recipe.  So what am I to do with the egg white???  I do not want it to go to waste so I scower the internet for a simple meringue cookie recipe since I know it only uses egg whites.  I made some but it can get quite messy filling the piping bag with the beaten egg white.  Using a simple spoon or spatula makes for some oddly shaped cookies.  Mom suggested Angel food cake so I searched the internet once more for that recipe.  I tried making it and it was a success again.  Instead of using vanilla extract as the recipe calls for, I used orange extract.  It is yummy indeed.  Maybe next time I will use a different extract like banana or purple yam.  I dunno...

Monday, July 13, 2020

Pinakbet ilocano taught to me by my Ilocano friend.


Ingredients:

-  Okra.  About 10 pieces.  Both ends sliced and discarded.
-  eggplant. Two long ones.  Slice and discard the top end.  Sliced this only when about ready to add in the pot.  If you slice this ahead of time, let it soak in water.
-  Tomato. Two large ones.  Sliced 5 times into desired shape.
-  garlic. 5-8 cloves skinned.
-  Long green beans.  About 10 long pieces cut to about 1.5 inches long.  Discard ends.
-  Shrimp paste aka bagoong.  about 2-3 table spoon depending on your taste.
-  Ampalaya aka bittermelon.  1-2 pieces. Seed and inside discarded.  Slice to desired shape.
-  Lechon kawali.  About 1/2 pound cooked.  Cubed into desired size.  Making one from raw pork belly is another labor intensive task.
-  Kalabasa. 1/3 of a whole kalabasa.  Skinned and cubed.
-  onion. 1 whole one skinned and sliced.
-  cooking oil.  About 1/4 cup and optional.  Usually the fat from the lechon is enough.
-  salt and pepper to taste.
-  About 1 cup of hot water as needed if the dish in the pot looks too dry.  Usually the water from the veggies is enough.
-  I omitted 2 more veggies that I am not familiar with.  I do not think it affected the dish.

Procedure:

-Mix cooking oil, garlic, tomatoe, lechon kawali, onion and shrimp paste in a large pot.  Cover pot and let it cook and simmer on medium heat for about 3-5 mins.  Stir occasionally.
-Then add long beans and kalabasa.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cover pot and let it simmer for  about 5-8 more minutes.
-Then add eggplant and okra.  Cover and continue to cook and simmer for another 5-10 mins till all veggies are cooked.  Stir occasionally.
-You are done and the pinakbet is ready to serve.  Kain na tayo!

Saturday, July 04, 2020